There
by dcloverz
Summary: She causes Cody's nightmares, Maddie's secrets, London's hidden past, and Zack's true potential to be revealed, when all she wanted was to be left alone. Pairings a surprise, but there's not much romance.


Ok, I know I aldready posted this, but I just got the greatest idea that I can build up on this. I added much more to my original plot. Thanks to HouseAddiction for uploading this originally. And also, nice format! That was HouseAddiction as well, folks.

If you have aldready read this, then I didn't change anything but the last line. Your welcome to read it again, though.

"_**If heat rises, shouldn't hell be cold?" **_

– _**Cee Jay**_

**Chapter 1: There She Is**

Cody couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned in his bed, wringing his baby blanket forcefully when it failed to comfort him. He kicked his bed sheet off in frustration, and then pulled it back up. He punched his pillow a few times, and even threw his blankie at the wall in his efforts but to no avail. No matter what he did, his actions caused him to remain as awake as ever.

Cody bolted upright, wiping the sweat off his brow. Curse these summer nights, with this confused haze all around him. The air was too heavy, and his mind too restless to get any sort of sleep. He cradled his cramping leg, and calmed down his furiously beating heart. After a while, he dizzily got out of bed, knowing he wasn't going to uselessly lie in bed and count sheep. One leg cramped while the other was numb, so when he got both feet on the floor, he immediately fell. Sighing, he got up slowly. He looked wistfully towards his sleeping brother.

_How come Zack can sleep so peacefully and I can't? _

Shaking his head he slowly made his way across the messy side of their room.

_I'm just gonna take a peek. There's nothing better to do, anyway. Aw, he's so cute when he sleeps. Ew, he's drooling. Ick, never mind. Yeech, I can't look! I'm just gonna get that for him. _

Cody took Zack's blanket and tried to wipe the drool, but as soon as Cody touched him, Zack suddenly awoke, transfixed. There was a deep depression where Cody had touched.

"Zack?" Cody whispered. Zack didn't move. "Zack, are you all right?" Cody gave Zack a light shove.

Zack started to scream. A huge depression started to form. His whole body sank into the sheets like quicksand, one appendage at a time. Tears came down his cheeks; Zack's screams were utterly heart-wrenching. Cody watched in shock, completely petrified at what he had done. He opened his mouth, and nothing came out. Suddenly the world was spinning, knocking him off his feet. He started bleeding and gasping for air, but it was as if he was in a fish tank; the air had become too thick to breathe. He tried to grasp his throat and force air through it, but his hands couldn't move; he was trapped in this position. The air got so hot, it cut through Cody's skin. Tears welled up in Cody's eyes.

_Zack…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry._

_**----------"Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed."----------**_

_**- Corita Kent**_

"There's a new kid in your science class today."

"So?"

"Just thought you might want to know."

Zack's spoon waded through the disintegrating cereal ungratefully. He soon got completely bored, sighed at length, and leaned back in his chair. Cody stared at him with concern, but said nothing. He continued to fish out soggy pieces of cereal and reluctantly pushed them in his mouth. He had no appetite, especially after that dream.

…_or was it a dream? It seemed so real…_

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Zack asked, trying to break the ice. Cody jumped.

"A girl."

"What's her name?"

"I don't—"

"BOYS! The bus will be here any minute."

They both got up simultaneously. Zack left his cereal bowl and shrugged on his backpack, while Cody shook his head disapprovingly at his brother, and put their dirty dishes in the sink. Zack waited for him as he poured the contents down the drain.

"Cody?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever feel like we've been cheated out of something?"

"Yes, our school system completely underestimates us."

"That's not what I meant," Zack said in a steely voice. Cody chuckled.

"Zack, you've got your whole life ahead of you. Obviously you're going to do a lot more with your life than what you're doing right now."

"All right."

They made their way to the bus in silence.

_**----------"Reality is merely an illusion; albeit a persistent one."----------**_

_**- Albert Einstein**_

Science was a particularly boring subject, especially in the area of physics. It was not even a matter of opinion anymore, for mostly everyone's eyes drifted around the room. Everywhere, it seemed, but the front of the classroom where the teacher wrote basic formulas and many notes on the chalkboard. Texting and the passing of notes was the only activity taken part in by students, as the hot, heavy air chained them to reality, preventing them from daydreaming.

However Zack had luckily obtained a seat next to the open window, the only place cool and comfortable enough for lengthy daydreams to be born.

This is the place he frequently hatched up plans and ideas, since not doing anything seemed as difficult as a math equation to him. He busied himself with finding solutions to any problems that may have arisen, and occasionally having daydreams of Melissa, the hottest girl in school. He also found himself lost in the imaginary piles of money, and he has worked on a long, twisted plan of how to obtain this wealth.

Due to habit, he sighed lethargically, and gazed out the window, while specks of dust circled and his teacher droned on about levers. He casually stretched out his muscles and had a strong desire to rest his head on his suddenly soft arm. He followed his whim, and desperately attempted not to fall asleep. However, his energy had gone and his eyes closed, helplessly loosing his train of thought.

"ZACK!" a voice yelled. Zack immediately shot up in his seat, suddenly alert of his surroundings. He found the rest of the class staring at him in amusement, their smiles merely tired. The teacher's stern face hovered above everyone's, sagging heavily and dripping in sweat.

"Yes, _sir_?" Zack said, immediately stressing the last syllable. One person chuckled dryly. The teacher sighed.

"Please try to pay attention, Zack. This will be on your quiz tomorrow." His voice was raspy. Zack nodded sleepily, and rested his heavy head on his clenched fist. When the teacher turned his back on him and continued with his discussion, Zack's eyes wandered from pupil to pupil. None of them were paying the slightest attention to the professor, except one. Zack frowned at her.

Writing notes feverishly, a raven-haired girl was sitting in the front row, her head and short ponytail constantly bobbing up and down. Only the back of her head was visible, so Zack busied himself with thinking how black Asians' heads could be. This was a particularly slow thing to note, but for Zack, slow was how he worked.

The long-awaited bell rang, and a few sighs escaped the students as they shuffled to get their books in order and move along. The Asian remained, still writing notes. Zack headed towards the door…

"Lay-Ella, you can stay after school to write down these notes. I will leave them up for you at the end of the day." The teacher's tired voice resonated through the classroom. The Lay-Ella girl looked up smiling sweetly and without a complaint, snatched her books and headed towards the door. Zack quickly strode out of the room, and shuffled behind the wall. Through the noise of the hallways, he heard her answer.

"By the way, it's Leiyeilia, but call me Layla. It's easier." She briskly turned away from the door, her wavy black hair whipping through the air, and headed into the crowd. Zack saw her ponytail bob out of sight. He looked around quickly, saw no one, and scurried off to PE, the only period he had with Cody.

_**----------"I'm shedding my skin so you can see my face"----------**_

_**- Idina Menzel**_

Cody, Zack, Tapeworm, and Max were shooting hoops lazily, waiting for the whistle to blow in order to start a _real_ game of basketball. They were playing knockout and keeping score to make it interesting. Zack and Cody's scores varied significantly, and Zack wondered why there wasn't a special needs class for PE. Why only math, science, social studies….things that didn't matter? He couldn't score babes writing a long equation, that's for sure. Zack was very different from Cody, but they were the closest twins anybody knew.

Max passed the ball to Tapeworm with more force than needed, and Tapeworm gave her a worried look. Max ignored it, flipping her bangs out of the way. Max had gotten more hostile towards everyone, for reasons Zack didn't know.

"Please?" Tapeworm pleaded anxiously. Max face flushed.

"No."

"Aw, come on, give it a chance."

"I said NO."

"Will you two quit it? Come on! Shoot the ball, Tape," Cody said, slightly annoyed. Cody looked at Zack and raised his eyebrows. _Do you know…?_

Zack nodded ever so slightly. Cody shot him an unconvinced look. _Liar._

Zack grinned, and fetched the ball that Tapeworm missed the basket with, gracefully sprinting and doing a lay-up.

"Nice one, dude," Max simpered.

"Thanks." He flashed a smile in her direction, and she faked one back, with a dark look from Tapeworm. Cody sighed, and held out his hands, expectant. Zack bounced it towards him. He caught it clumsily and tried a simple shot. Surprisingly, he got it in. Cody smiled, completely proud of himself.

"Good one! The first one you've ever gotten in your lifetime!" Max joked. Tapeworm chuckled and Zack smiled.

"Hey, no one makes fun of my brother but me," Zack said.

"Hey!" Cody yelped, but he laughed along.

The whistles shrill voice was heard, and students walked to the middle of the gym, waiting for further instructions. The gym teacher was not seen (he was a stout fellow), but his voice was sharp and caught the attention of everyone.

"We will play softball today. Any objections, Mr. Avery? I DIDN'T THINK SO! Now line up to go outside. Quickly now…I SAID QUICKLY!"

He screeched at a group of chattering girls, who jumped at his tone. They slinked to the back of the mass (that was supposed to be a line), and stood there, their arms crossed.

They were outside in minutes. The sun heated Zack to the point where he grabbed Cody's water bottle and took a swig. He would have nearly drowned himself if it wasn't for Max. She swiftly took it away from him, gulped down a small amount and handed it to a frowning Cody, who wiped the top with his crisp shirt and capped it, eyeing it reproachfully. Max wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and they continued onwards to the field.

"MARTIN, MONTGOMERY, YOU'RE UP!!!" Zack and Max high-fived each other and went to the front of the swarm of students, who murmured sullenly.

"Choose," he told Max quietly.

"Uh, Cody."

"Ummmm, Tapeworm."

"Michael"

"Leiyeilia." Zack said suddenly. All eyes turned on the Asian in surprise. A few girls whispered viciously. Leiyeilia blushed, and walked towards Zack with dignified grace.

"Connor?"

"Chris."

"Mitchell."

"Charlie."

They continued picking any names they could think of, and then started to take their positions on the field.

"Why did you choose me?" a voice said quietly. Zack spun around to face Leiyeilia who grinned at him. He examined her.

She had wavy, medium length, raven hair, which was tied back into a ponytail with curls dripping out of it as if they were decorations on a cake. Her face was freckled and tan, her smile, white and gleaming, and her skin a golden brown. She had a very pleasant face, with one dimple and proportional features. However, what most drew Zack to her were her eyes. They were hazel, were surrounded by dark, long lashes, and had a mysterious glint to them. They were genuine and warm, and somewhat mind-bending. Zack couldn't ignore them.

"I'm not very popular around here. I don't know a lot of people. I just know your name," he said causally, as if it was something he admitted every day. _Those eyes made me tell…_

"Do you know my face?"

_What? _

"I sit behind you in science. I can't see your face." She laughed at this comment.

"That's not what I meant, but good answer anyway. Oh, and thanks for saying my name right, I hate when people don't know who I really am."

"Uhhh, no problem. See you in science class. Maybe he'll change the seats and I could see your face." Zack blushed. How lame was that comment. Lucky for him, Leiyeilia smiled understandingly.

"Maybe…"

Zack walked away from her and resumed his position as shortstop. He played badly, the thought of Leiyeilia's eyes on his mind. Why couldn't he stop thinking about them? He knew he wasn't in love but it was as if they had imprinted themselves on his soul; they were haunting him . He remembered that movie he saw with the Evil Eye. Was it like that? Zack's insides squirmed uncomfortably. It was…

He turned back to see Leiyeilia in outfield, reaching for a high-flying ball hit by Connor. She ran back, open mitt, caught it, and sped it to first base with so much power, the guy fell over.

"Lay-Ella's got an arm!" someone shouted and Leiyeilia flushed.

"IT'S LAYLA!!!" she yelled but smiled at the compliment.

_**----------"You can only lose what you cling to."----------**_

_**- Buddha**_

Zack and Cody left Max and Tapeworm screaming at each other and went into the boy's locker room. It was hot and smelled strongly of Axe, with dirty lockers and dingy blue tiles. Cody opened his locker and pulled out his regular clothes.

"Why did you pick that Lay-Ella girl?"

"I dunno."

"Do you like her?"

"I dunno."

"Why did you talk to her then?"

"I dunno."

"Or did Lay-Ella talk to you?"

"It's Layla."

"Ok. Did Layla talk to you then?"

"Yeah. To ask me why I picked her."

"And you…?"

"If I knew we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"True."

Tapeworm came into the locker room, his eyes flaming. He opened his own locker and it clanged against the others loudly, just missing Cody's nose.

"What happened?"

"Max…"

"Dude, stop trying. It's over."

"It's not."

"Do you mind telling me what's going on here?" Zack asked, completely confused as to what was attacking their friendship. Tapeworm sighed.

"Tapeworm told Max he loved her, but she didn't like him that way, and he won't give up." Cody explained.

"Why won't he?"

"ASK HIM!!!"

They both turned around and waited expectantly for his answer.

"You don't give up on love."

Before they realized what he had said, the bell rang and Tapeworm zoomed away to his next class, gym shorts still on. Cody cocked an eyebrow and Zack shrugged a shoulder. Zack turned to leave.

"Uh, Zack?"

"Yeah?"

"Have we grown apart?"

"Why would you say that?"

"I dunno. But I can tell you anything right?"

"Yeah."

"And I'm always there, right?"

"Yeah, of course buddy."

"And – oh no! I'm late for AP English!" And Cody sped off.

_**----------"Worrying is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere."----------**_

_**- Unknown**_

"Sup Maddie?" Zack asked, leaning against the counter and pulling out his new wallet with a dramatic flourish. "I'll have two chocolate bars and a date." He slipped the money on to the counter and flipped his hair cooly. Maddie smiled knowingly.

"Here. Two Hershey's bars, but I'm out of dates. Have some raisins. They're free." She handed him a small box of raisins, and he took it slowly, not fully understanding the concept of her joke. He laughed anyway, and popped some raisins into his mouth. If Maddie liked them, then so did he. Maddie smiled again, and went back to organizing the shelves.

"Zack, I need a favor."

Zack turned around to find London standing over him, dressed in Miss Sixty and Dolce and Gabonna. That was London: always stylish.

"Um, sure. Do you want me to take care of Ivana again?"

"After you nearly murdered her with that cheap dog food? I don't think so." London snapped her fingers in the air.

"Well…" Zack said expectantly.

"It's about my suite. Walk with me." London strode confidently into the elevator and he hurried behind. When the elevator doors closed, London turned to Zack with sadness in her eyes.

"It's Cody. He's not himself anymore."

Zack frowned, and popped raisins into his mouth broodingly. After a moment he answered.

"Whaddya mean? He was fine a few hours ago."

"Yeah, well he called me dumb!"

Zack resisted the urge to laugh.

"Um, London, that's not exactly news."

"Look, he's never done that before! You've done that, Maddie's done that, Mr. Moseby's done that, even Esteban and Arwin! But never Cody. No, not Cody."

"Why do you care about him anyway?"

London fought a blush successfully and lied gracefully. "Maddie was going to ask you, but she has to work."

"Oh, ok. I'll talk to him. But I'm sure you're overreacting"

The elevators opened up again, and before London could retaliate, Zack rushed out.

_**----------"We are not our thoughts. We are the silence between them."----------**_

_**- Unknown**_

"Look, man, London says you called her dumb, too. Maddie's not the only one who thinks your…off."

"I told you, Zack, I'm perfectly fine."

"Just tell the girls that, or they're going to blame me."

"I was just in a bad mood…"

"I know…"

"I'm perfectly fine…"

"Ummmm, yeah. Just go ahead and tell Maddie that."

"Sure."

Cody got up slowly and closed his homework folder carefully, as to not have the corners of the papers dog eared. He set his textbook on top of it, and stroked its cover. Zack played it cool. He grabbed the remote from the coffee table and turned on the TV, popping raisins into his mouth every thirty seconds. Zack studied Cody from the corner of his eye. Cody was still solemnly stroking his textbook and organizing everything. Zack was about to cry out with impatience, when Cody finally stopped, crossed his arms, and left.

Zack sprang into action. He carefully grabbed the homework folder, and opened the laptop on the coffee table. He copied word for word what Cody had written, occasionally popping a few raisins in his mouth. There was a knock on the door. He put the papers back carefully since Cody would notice if anything was in disarray, and continued typing until he had finished the sentence so his work made sense.

"Come in, the door's open!"

The door swung open just as the lights went out. A huge bolt of lightning flashed outside. The light shone on the guest. The rain, it seemed, just started to pour outside, joined by thunder.

"Wow, what perfect timing," Zack said.

"I know, right? But it just adds to my mystique…now you don't know who I am…Oooooh, scary."

"Not quite, Maddie."

"I'm not Maddie."

"Sure you aren't. You came up here to tell me off."

"No, it's me. Layla."

"Wow! You sound like my…" He paused for a moment before continuing, "…girlfriend."

"That must be some girlfriend if you can't tell if she's in the room or not. If you start kissing me, I swear, I'll sock your teeth in."

"That's nice to know." Zack could feel his cheeks heat up. He blinked and tried to distinguish the shapes in the room. He could see Layla's blob, coming closer.

"Aiya!"

"What?"

"I stubbed my toe."

"So what did you come up here for?"

"I needed science homework, and I don't have a phone right now. We still need to install one."

"You came all the way here for homework?"

"School is important!"

"Sure. Well, I don't know it either. I don't pay attention."

Zack could feel Layla sitting beside him on the couch. Somehow, when she came closer, he could feel it. He felt tingly and warm on one side, and cold on the other. He rubbed his cold arm feverishly to get rid of the goosebumps.

"How'd it get so cold?" Zack asked her. He felt her lean back. "And dark."

"It's just like that. Have you noticed…shadows move."

"They do?"

"I'm an observant kind of person."

"Then how do you not know the homework."

"Too busy copying down the notes, just like you were too busy eavesdropping…"

"Hey, I was curious…" Zack's cheeks heated up again. What a poor choice of words…

"Don't be embarrassed. I was curious about you too."

"Why?" asked Zack, straightening up. He didn't like where this was going.

"I was curious at why you cared. That's why I came. Why did you pick me Zack, when I'm invisible?"

Zack sighed.

"I was curious…" he repeated.

"Yeah, I kind of caught that before. Why were you curious?"

"You seem different. No offense."

"None taken. I am what I am. Not everyone in this world has been raped."

_**----------"What is my loftiest ambition? I've always wanted to throw an egg into an electric fan."----------**_

_**- Oliver Herford**_

Sorry, couldn't resist the last quote.

Please review, and don't say it's a slow story (because you can't rush these types of things: it doesn't happen all at once) or everyone does this type of thing, it'll get better, I've designed a pretty plot line for you people…Oh, and Zack is not in love…or at least not yet. I don't know if I should include the romance.

Constuructive critisism welcome!

dcloverz


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